First, a bit of a rant regarding some Synth-Semantics: I put the above quotes around "wavetable" because there is some dispute over just what this term actually means. Commonly (and certainly to my mind) a wavetable synth will use oscillators that draw from a long-ish, linear list of single-cycle waveforms: e.g., the wavetables. Usually the harmonic content of each waveform in the table presents a slight variation from those on either side of it. By using modulators (usually LFO's or Envelopes) to "sweep" or "scan" the wavetable you can get interesting harmonic variations, or in some cases, sweep from one waveform shape to an entirely different one. The classic (and original, if memory serves) wavetable synth is the PPG Wave, but this approach to synthesis has been used quite successfully in modern softsynths such as Native Instruments MASSIVE and Waldorf's new Largo.
None of this, however, has anything to do with Cakewalk's Rapture, which is nonetheless billed and hyped (rather extensively, if you read Cakewalk's website) as the "ultimate wavetable synthesizer." Well, literally speaking it does draw from a "table" of single cycle waveforms, yes-- but they are very short waveforms, not the long strings with varying harmonics as discussed above, and so there is, predictably, no available functionality for scanning them with modulators. Really, it's as much a "wavetable" synth as Sylenth1 is, or any other software synth that draws on sampled waveforms (and there are many). It stands apart from those others, I suppose, in that it offers a very large collection of single-cycle waves, numbering in the three-hundreds.
Basically, this is a matter of synth-semantics: some folks believe "wavetable synth" should always denote a synth with wave-scanning abilities, while others have a more lenient view of the term. If only the term "wave-scanning synthesizer" was more widely used, we could probably avoid a lot of confusion...
...But what about Rapture itself? Well, near-false advertising or no, Rapture is nonetheless a fantastic and, in my opinion, highly under-rated soft-synth. Cakewalk's product line as a whole, it seems to me, often gets pegged as being "mid-level" or otherwise "non-professional" by a healthy base of the synthesizer and DAW elite. I've never used SONAR, so I can't comment there, but I've had very positive experiences with both Rapture and also (though to a lesser extent) the Dimension Pro sample-synth. I'm not sure where the bad rep comes from, but you'd think the fact alone that the company is now owned and managed by one of the most venerable electronic-music instrument companies of all time, with arguably the greatest legacy of influential instruments in the history of electronic music (303, 808 and Jupiter 8 to name a notable few) would lend the company some cred, but apparently not...
But I keep wandering off course here. Let's look at what's so cool about Rapture, and why it's good for industrial music in particular. The key trick here is that the designers put a step-sequencer, LFO, sync-able envelope, multiple insert FX, and a non-linear double-filter DSP chain (including neat things like a tube amp sim) on every one of six available "elements." An element starts with an oscillator playing a selected waveform or sample, and then runs through the arrangement of all the above-mentioned gadgets. The point here is that Rapture is capable of some very serious sound-layering, and each of those layers is capable of some equally serious modulation and FX, most notably the excellent and flexible step-sequencers. And in addition to all that, the global page gives you yet another step sequencer and more insert FX slots. Put all this together and are talking about some very big, lush and rhythmically-dynamic sounds. The preset library is, in a word, immense, and shows off to great effect the abilities of the synth as a stepping/gating/morphing monster. But it also has you well covered for your basics, too, though frankly when I load this thing up, I'm almost always going for layered step-sequenced goodness. These sort of qualities and FX have, to my ear, a distinctly futuristic, dark vibe that serves the industrial musician very well.
Programming Tips:
-Reverse engineer from the presets
This is a good way to learn how to succesfully program any synth, but is especially the case with Rapture because there is so much going on. Take, for example, the hundreds of possible waveforms you can choose from for each oscillator-- it's frankly overwhelming, especially if you are accustomed (like most of us) to the typical subtractive selection of sine, tri, saw and pulse. But you can use the presets to get a sense of which waves are being used, and to what end, and then use these as your go-to waves when starting out with your own programming.
-Step-sequence everything
Modulate the filter cutoff, the resonance, the pan, and so on, and offset the different step values for each so the changes compliment each other. You can also set different overall lengths for each sequencer, and/or different increments of stepping, resulting in more dynamic and unpredictable sound-shifting and morphing.
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